Whatever your political perspective, one thing is for sure – whether we are in or out of Europe – we will continue to do business with our foreign neighbours.

Graham Jones is an internet psychologist who runs a consultancy helping companies who need to make better use of their websites

You have to laugh at politicians – well if you didn’t you might cry. But following the elections last week resulting in four MEPs from UKIP for this part of the world, the party has been busy talking up the 'earthquake'.

So that’s an 'earthquake' where the vast majority of people did not vote for UKIP and where, here in the South East, most of our MEPs are NOT from that party. Some earthquake.

Whatever your political perspective, one thing is for sure – whether we are in or out of Europe – we will continue to do business with our foreign neighbours.

And they will continue to want to settle here in the UK.

Before we joined the 'Common Market' back in the 1970s, we had been doing business with the rest of the world for centuries. And we still do. Before it became the 'European Community', prior to being known as the EU, people from dozens of countries made their homes in the UK.

Even though politicians try to change things, to make things fair or to pander to the whim of the extremists, one thing carries on as though not a lot has happened – and that is trade.

Many of the people who come to live in this country work for multinationals, enabling us to do business with them back in their homelands. Many businesses here in Reading depend upon trade with the rest of Europe in order to pay the bills.

Without international business and without people moving around the world – including Brits going to live in France or Poland or wherever – then trade would be incredibly difficult. Business people understand this; politicians do not, or they ignore it.

So whatever happens in the coming year as a result of the forthcoming General Election or a referendum on Europe, business people can look back in history and realise that business finds a way, whatever the political environment. Trade with Europe will continue, no matter what.